Loddon Shire Mayoral Column

Published on 03 February 2020

2020 drought employment program

Farmers and farm workers in the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District (GMID) affected by the drought may have access to temporary work in the local area through a Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority and Chandler Macleod partnership.

Working part or full time, workers will be part of a supervised crew employed on environmental public good projects such as weed eradication, fencing, revegetation and infrastructure maintenance in the GMID.

The program also offers the opportunity to renew or upskill in Occupational Health and Safety as well as first aid. Individualised goal plans may identify further skills training and appropriate TAFE courses to develop other career options, with a budget of $1500 available per participant.

Teams will be in operation across Shepparton, Murray Valley, Central Goulburn, Rochester-Campaspe, Torrumbarry and Loddon Valley. To register interest, visit www.bit.ly/GBCMADEP20 or call Chandler Macleod on 03 5825 6000.

Seasonal update sessions

Free cross-industry sessions to assist irrigators with upcoming sowing, irrigation and stock feeding decisions are offered across four locations in February.

The latest information will be provided on climate commodity outlooks, along with cropping options and management tips for limited water availability.

Speakers will look at the key drivers of hay and grain prices, including the drought, fire and international issues, the irrigation outlook for 2020 and 2021, feed buying tips as well as cropping and forage options.

The expert speakers who will present are Damian Jones, Irrigated Cropping Council; Colin Peace, Jumbuk Ag; Graeme Anderson, Agriculture Victoria and Andrew Shields, Goulburn Murray Water.

The sessions will be held at: Calivil – Tuesday 18 February, Rochester – Wednesday 19 February, Stanhope – Thursday 20 February and Kerang – Friday 21 February. For more details and to RSVP, call Darren on (03) 5482 1922 or email darren.carnie@agriculture.vic.gov.au

Small Business Friendly Charter

At the recent Council meeting, Council voted to sign up to the Small Business Friendly Charter.

The charter, which was developed by the Victorian Small Business Commission (VSBC), recognises the important role that councils play in supporting local small businesses. The commission works with councils to help create a fair and competitive trading environment for Victorian small businesses.

Some of the areas where council can support small business include trying to reduce the impact of infrastructure projects on small businesses, helping to build strong networks, coordinating resources and creating mutually beneficial channels of communication between the VSBC and local councils.

Loddon Shire joins a list of Victorian councils who have already signed up to the charter and will gain access to additional tools and guidelines to assist Council to support and work with small business in our region.

Did you know

Council’s recycling contractor Veolia has had to suspend the processing of co-mingled material at the Echuca Materials Recovery Facility in the wake of the bushfires at Tumut in NSW.

This is a temporary situation until 17 February and residents are urged to continue to put only recyclables in their yellow lid bin as usual and only put out the bin for collection if it is full.

Council has no alternative but to direct recyclable material to landfill for the short term, which is an unfortunate, but unavoidable outcome of Veolia suspending its operations.

Loddon Shire landfills and transfer stations will continue to operate as usual, with recyclable material collection and separation skips in place.

We urge all residents to continue to recycle as usual, and we will inform you of any changes in your kerbside collection service. Residents can check Council’s website at www.loddon.vic.gov.au/For-residents/Your-home/Garbage-and-recycling/Garbage-and-recycle-service to find out what can and cannot be recycled in their area.